My own personal FMA vs FMAB review
Introduction Hello, my name is McCrillis Nsiah from the USA. I used to watch a handful of anime with my siblings back then, but overall I was never an anime fan from the start. I mostly grew up watching Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon (and to a much lesser extent, PBS Kids), two of my most favorite channels now reduced to crap nowadays sadly, often rerunning the same exact shows repeatedly with virtually no variety whatsoever in their schedule. Around the late 2000s/early 2010s, I unintentionally stumbled upon the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise, beginning with the video game Curse of the Crimson Elixir and the 2009 anime adaptation Brotherhood; they were both what introduced me to the said franchise. Though I have to admit that I was confused at the same time because of the differences in animation in both media. I've watched episodes 27 and 28 of the original anime from the disc that the Curse of the Crimson Elixir game had featured, then the first four episodes of Brotherhood on Adult Swim on Demand, then I did further research about the franchise online; I went to watchcartoononline to watch the 2003 show from start to finish, including Conqueror of Shamballa. After that, I've finished the rest of Brotherhood and finally read the manga. I've liked all three versions about equally. However, as time passed, I've began to appreciate the subtle intricacies of the 2003 anime and began to take notice on all of the manga's and 2009 anime's flaws. Summary I give the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime a solid 9.5/10 and the original manga/rebooted anime a 7/10. I personally like 2003 better for various reasons: its animation, characterization, development, themes, messages, narrative, storytelling, ending, and soundtrack. Just about everything in it. I truly believe it surpasses all other anime I've seen because it was able to tackle themes and messages no other anime I've seen ever addressed, hell not even this Nickelodeon cartoon called Avatar: The Last Airbender. First, this isn't just a fantasy story, it's also one that is suppose to be a pure imitation of the real-life military and the flaws in society and life in general. It is a story of two alchemist brothers' lives and reality all hits them as soon as they join the military. It is not meant to be a joyful one. So I wasn't surprised that it took a more serious and darker tone as the show went on. Whereas the original manga author Hiromu Arakawa decided to take the usual shonen route in her later chapters, because she likely looked after the successes of numerous other shonen manga/anime series and only created the story for pure entertainment purposes. Secondly, unlike Arakawa, whose actual writing skills are quite subpar at best, the staff members of the 2003 anime adaptation actually knew what they were going for in terms of the franchise's overall essence and had experience on the battlefield. They never attempted to make the show a tiresome old cliche global conspiracy plot already found in many manga, anime, cartoons, and comics out there. They did a great job in steering away from the typical mainstream public and just wanted to tell a good military-like story, nothing more. Thirdly, the original anime's staff proved that, despite their show being shonen, not every anime has to go the shonen way and having actual real-life tragedies being treated with a certain amount of seriousness can work in a shonen anime. I was totally unimpressed by Arakawa's own original work: she unrealistically depicted the military, added too many characters, all of which were drastically underdeveloped especially the main characters and the villains, shoved the philosophical, religious, and military themes away for more lighthearted themes, comedy, gore, and action with very little meaning and relevance to the plot, hypocrisy, contradiction, stereotyping, weak plot points, plot armors, and plot holes. Lastly, Arawawa's own fanbase of her original work...my personally issue. It's not because they prefer it over the story that the animation studio Bones came up with themselves for the 2003 anime adaptation, but because of how they completely exaggerate about both said versions, what with the other being purely "perfect" and the other being purely inferior, "stupid", and "senseless" without any analysis, basis, and detail. Many of whom also claim that the second anime follows the manga so therefore it's another reason why it's "better". That's a bullshit reason, an adaptation of the original source material should always stand on its own, not rely on said source material. And following the manga isn't always a good thing, because there are certain stuff that only works in manga format, whereas they wouldn't translate well on screen. See my next eight sections below. The Homunculi The Homunculi, who are the main antagonists in all three versions, honestly stink so bad in the manga and Brotherhood. The only exception was King Bradley. In the manga and Brotherhood, all the homunculi except King Bradley were just parts of Father and that was it. What an honestly cartoonish plot point for a story that is suppose to deal with real-life tragedies like this...they also never had any kind of intelligence, complexity, and individuality. Seriously, they were just there to fetch quests for Father and do his bidding. Other than that, they never once played an actual role. In the manga and Brotherhood, do we actually get a clear explanation as to how homunculi are created? The answer is simply no. Like...how can Father just dish out his emotions just like that? I mean yeah Father himself is a living Philosopher's Stone due to all the souls he absorbed in Xerxes. But the thing is that any philosopher's stone is basically alchemy, albeit in a different form. So again, are homunculi really made of the philosopher's stone juices that Father dishes them out of his body from? Or what? Because that's the only "explanation" we get about it...oh wait because the plot said. If that's the case, then how come we never once see Hohenheim do just that? Oh wait because he's one of the "good guys" so therefore he can't. '''''Lust''''': Way better in 2003 than the manga and Brotherhood, where she was not only just a part of Father, but also served as one of Mustang's two final bosses to be killed. '''''Envy''''': Way better in 2003 than the manga and Brotherhood. '''''Sloth''''': Way better in 2003 than the manga and Brotherhood. In the manga and Brotherhood, this version of Sloth is not only a male and a part of Father, but also without any personality other than "Sloth big, Sloth strong, Sloth sleepy..." Yeah, what a great written antagonist who pretty much did almost nothing other than digging Father's nationwide transmutation circle and then serving as a final boss for the Armstrong siblings and the Curtises to kill, all the while bitching about everything being a pain. Another thing I didn't like about him was that he could have easily killed Olivier Armstrong like he seemingly did. But nope, let's hear it for her brother who appears out of nowhere to help save the day and then she gets right back on her feet moments later, good as new. And how did he just get his ass whooped that easily by Izumi and Sig, who also randomly appeared out of nowhere? He was taken out so effortlessly because of the constant plot armors and cop-outs that Arawawa kept pulling right out of her ass to keep the protagonists alive for the final showdown with Father. Seriously, there's not really much to talk about this pathetic version of Sloth. A boring, generic, and stereotypical cartoony villain you can't even sympathize with. '''''Wrath''''' / '''''Pride''''': 2003's Wrath is way better than the manga's and Brotherhood's Pride. '''''Greed''''': Way better in 2003 than the manga and Brotherhood. He was an extremely important part of Ed's characterization and development in 2003. He taught Ed the true meaning of self-defense and rightfully so because you can't honestly expect to back out like a wuss everytime a criminal physically assaults you or attempts to assault you/kill you. It's war, it's kill or be killed. Plain and simple. If not, then the military is just not for you. More on that later on my Edward essay a few sections below. The manga's and Brotherhood's is a type I've seen countless times before, a boring, dull, and uninteresting villain-turned-hero who pulled out that cheesy, corny, and predictable "all I ever wanted was friends" cliche that so many Brotherhood fans keep calling an interesting character and the way he was killed by Father twice in a row was so cartoonish and childish to the point it never once impressed me. His interaction with Edward was also based solely on a superficial level and the way Edward let him onto his team later on in the story after the guy allegedly almost killed him/assaulted him earlier on in the story and kidnapped his brother was just so irrational and thoughtless. '''''King Bradley''''': Better in the manga and Brotherhood than 2003, not much explanation is needed here, despite some questionable decisions he made throughout the story and the fact that the way he was killed by Scar near the end was kinda lame to be honest because of the plot armor. Only homunculus in the manga and Brotherhood who actually had a backstory and actually played a role, and showed actual threatening vibes. '''''Gluttony''''': Same in all three versions. Only difference is that in the manga and Brotherhood, he showed anger after Lust was killed, whereas in 2003, he showed actual remorse after Lust was killed. Overall, he is my least favorite homunculus. Dante, Father, and Hohenheim Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes Scar Winry Rockbell Alchemy and the other side of the gate The Elric brothers Conclusion